East Asia

Japan’s “foreigners”

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Japan’s parliament is considering letting “permanent foreign residents” vote in local elections. That basically means people of Korean descent, some of whom were born in Japan and have lived there their whole lives. It’s a politically sensitive issue and, as Akiko Fujita reports, the bill has sparked a fierce public debate.

• Koreans in Japan

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World.  Japan is considering giving permanent foreign residents the right to vote.  These are non-citizens who, for the most part, have lived in Japan for years.  It’s a sensitive issue in what’s still a largely homogenous country.  As Akiko Fujita reports from Tokyo, the proposed legislation is sparking fierce debate.

AKIKO FUJITA: Japanese nationalist groups rallied in one of Tokyo’s popular shopping districts over the weekend. Protestors stood outside some department stores waving Japanese flags.  A few miles away demonstrators surrounded a gathering for the ruling political party demanding an end to what they called Japan’s sympathy towards foreigners.

HARUKI MURATA: [Speaking Japanese]

FUJITA: Protest organizer Haruki Murata said Japanese policies must be decided by the Japanese alone.  Murata’s anger is directed at a proposed bill that would extend voting rights in local elections to permanent foreign residents. Nearly a million people have permanent resident status here, most are of Korean descent. Many were born in Japan and have lived here their whole lives. But they aren’t citizens.

KONI YOH: [Speaking Japanese]

FUJITA: Koni Yoh calls voting a basic human right given to any resident of a community. He’s the President of The Korean Residents Union in Japan, the group that’s leading the drive for voting rights.  Korean nationals like Yoh’s family were forced to become Japanese citizens during Japan’s Colonial rule over Korea a century ago. They lost that citizenship after Japan’s defeat in World War II, but many Koreans stayed in Japan to raise their families. And most opted to keep their Korean citizenship.

YOH: [Speaking Japanese]

FUJITA: Yoh says the Koreans that live here today were born here.  They drink the same water as the Japanese, breathe the same air, and pay taxes. They just have parents with different roots. They want to value that.  Taiwanese residents here share those feelings too. Taiwan was a Japanese colony for half a century. Many of those who stayed in Japan opted not to get Japanese citizenship. to stay loyal to their roots. While there are many more Koreans than Taiwanese born in Japan, the government has grouped them together as special residents, nearly half a million in that special class do not have Japanese citizenship.  Their decision to maintain that status has angered the country’s right wing groups. Haruki Murata says voting should be reserved for Japanese only.  If residents want to vote, they should be required to pass a citizenship test.

MURATA: [Speaking Japanese]

FUJITA: Foreigners will directly influence our politicians if this bill passes, Murata says.  Regional elections can directly influence national policy as well.  Hidenori Sakanaka calls that a scare tactic. He runs the Japan Immigration Policy Institute, and says permanent residents would only make up one percent of the electorate. He argues that Japan needs to open its doors to foreigners, as the country’s population declines and ages. He adds the public is beginning to accept that.

HIDENORI SAKANAKA: [Speaking Japanese]

FUJITA: Sakanaka says most young people accept immigration as a critical part of our society. They view foreigners on the same level as the Japanese.  Supporters of voting rights for permanent residents, have been pushing for this bill for more than a decade. But it was only when the ruling Democratic Party of Japan won a historic election last fall that the idea gained some political traction.  Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and other DPJ leaders have already promised South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak that Japan’s Legislature will take up the voting bill this session.  But passing it may not be so easy. The ruling party is debating the country’s largest budget in history, and the party leadership is mired in a political corruption scandal.  So extending voting rights to non-Japanese citizens won’t be a priority.   For The World, I’m Akiko Fujita in Tokyo.

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